Modi is anti-Dalit, will defeat BJP in 2019: Rahul

New Delhi: Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Monday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government of being anti-Dalit and said his party will defeat the BJP in 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Gandhi, who led his party's day-long fast at Rajghat to highlight atrocities against Dalits and other communities, said party workers were protesting against an ideology, a way of thinking.

"The atmosphere that has been created in the country, it is due to the ideology of the BJP. BJP's ideology is to divide the country, crush the Dalits, tribals, minorities. We are against the ideology of the BJP. We are standing against it today, we will stand against it throughout our lives. And we will defeat them in the 2019 elections," Gandhi told reporters.

Asked about BJP Dalit MPs writing to Modi with their complaints, Gandhi said: "You talk to them in Parliament. They also tell us that Modiji is a casteist person, an anti-Dalit person. He has no place for Dalits in his heart, the whole country knows this. It is not a secret."

Gandhi attacked BJP President Amit Shah for likening the coming together of opposition parties to "snakes, mongoose, dogs and cats" climbing a tree trunk to save themselves from floods. He said every person in the country was against the BJP.

"Some days back a BJP leader said that opposition members were animals. The truth is that today every person in the country is standing against the government. The approach that this government has against Dalits, tribals, minorities and farmers, we are standing against it," he said.

Gandhi said the country will not accept that Modi government "spreads violence, hatred in the country... We are standing here against this ideology."

Gandhi also accused the government of suppressing and intimidating the media.

"You are standing on the other side but in actuality you are standing on our side as we are protecting you also. You are smiling, I know. We are fighting for you as well."